**PLAYING CAREER:**
A club original and one of the most popular players in franchise history, Vinny Castilla returns
for another season as a special assistant...returned to Denver in mid-August of 2006 and finished his career with the
Rockies...the 2011-12 winter marked the first that Castilla has played winter-ball for Hermosillo in the Mexican Winter
League...selected by the Rockies in the 1992 Expansion Draft, Castilla played for Colorado's inaugural ballclub in 1993
and was an All-Star on two occasions over eight-plus seasons with the organization...he was one of the National League's
most productive hitters over a five-year span from 1995-99, during which he averaged 183 hits, 38 home runs and 112 RBI
per season...he played in 98% of Colorado's games over those five years (778 of 792) and is still the only Rockie to start
all 162 games in a single season, accomplishing the feat in 1998...compiled three straight 40-homer seasons from 1996-
98, one of just nine players in National League history to do that...his string of five straight 30-homer campaigns from 1995-
99 still ranks as the third-most ever by a third baseman...only Eddie Mathews (9, 1953-61) and Mike Schmidt (8, 1979-84,
86-87) had more...Castilla was a part of only the second foursome to ever hit 30 home runs in the same year (1995) and
only the second threesome to hit 40 HR in the same season (1996)...Vinny had 306 career home runs as a third baseman, 8th-most in Major League history...the Oaxaca, Mexico, native finished as the all-time leader among Mexican-born
players in home runs (320), hits (1,884), runs (902), RBI (1,105) and doubles (349)...in Rockies history, ranks third in
games (1098) and home runs (239), and ranks fourth in RBI (745), hits (1,206), and doubles (208)...had 32 multi-homer
games, including franchise-record 27 as a Rockie...he joins Todd Helton as the only players in franchise history with six
seasons of 30 or more home runs...his 916 starts at third base in purple pinstripes is also a club record...Vinny owned a
.350 career postseason average with 5 home runs and 12 RBI, including a .467 (7-for-13) clip with 3 homers and 6 RBI
for Colorado in the 1995 NLDS.
2006
Had pinch-hit RBI single on 9/28 at Coors Field in what was his final AB, as he has stated he will retire at the end of the season. He will join the Rockies in a player development capacity. ... Went 0-4 on 9/24 as 3B, first start there for Rox since 10/3/04 at Hou ... Only other start for Rox came at 1B on 9/14 at SF ... prior to 9/2 at LA, only career games at 1B came in starts 7/29/94 at SF and 8/10/94 vs. Atl. ... Contract was purchased from Colo. Springs (AAA) on 9/1 for his 3rd stint
with the Rockies ... signed a minor league deal with Rox on Aug. 14. ... Was just 2nd player, and first position player, to appear for Colorado in 3 different stints...Only other player with 3 stints was RHP Dan Miceli. ... Career .286 (12-for-42) as pinch-hitter...was 4-for-13 in pinch-hit role this season. ... Hit lone career pinch HR June 15 vs. LA off Jonathan Broxton. ... Batted .387 (12-for-31) with 3 doubles and 4 RBI over 8 games with
Colo. Springs...Played mostly DH at Triple-A, but also at 3B and 1B.
2005
Batted .253 with 12 home runs and 66 RBI in 142 games for the Washington Nationals...battled
numerous ailments for majority of season, most notably left knee tendinitis...played in 142 of Nationals' first
153 contests, but did not play after September 22 due to the problematic left knee...played in at least 140
games for the fifth straight season...Established a Montreal/Washington franchise single-season record for highest fi elding percentage
by a third baseman at .970, breaking Tim Wallach's former team-mark of .966, set in 1991...on April
22 at New York (NL), had a Major League-record streak of consecutive fi elding chances at third base come
to an end...in the sixth-inning misplayed a grounder, marking his fi rst error since July 4, 2004 (with Colorado
vs. Detroit)...in between errors, fi elded a record 272 straight chances at third (spanning 89 games, as error
came in the 90th contest)...Castilla, who entered the 2005 season with a NL-record 230 consecutive chances
without a miscue at third, moved past Don Money and into the top spot in Major League annals on April
20 vs. Atlanta by catching an Adam LaRoche pop-up in the second inning...Money successfully fi elded 261
chances without an error at the hot corner for the Milwaukee Brewers from 1973-74...His 36 doubles and 66 RBI ranked second and third, respectively, on the
Nationals...is the active leader in home runs at RFK, as he paced the Nationals with eight long balls on their
home fi eld...11 game-winning RBI tied Nick Johnson for second among Nationals...only Jose Guillen (12)
had more.
2004
Original Rockie returned to COL with a MVP-esque season...led the NL with 131 RBI...also set NL record for highest
fielding percentage by a 3B (.987)...at 37, became the oldest player to pace the NL in RBI since Mike Schmidt (also 37)
in '86...was the first 3B to lead either league in RBI since Howard Johnson in '91...became the 5th different Rockie (6th
time) to pace the NL in RBI, joining Dante Bichette ('95), Andres Galarraga ('96-97), Todd Helton ('00) and Preston
Wilson ('03)...among 3B, Vinny's 131 RBI were the 8th-most in a single season in big league history:35 homers represented his highest single-season total since 1998 (46) and ranked 4th among all 3B behind Adrian
Beltre (48), Aramis Ramirez (36) and Alex Rodriguez (36)...hit 21 of his 35 home runs on the road, tied for 6th in road HR
in the NL...the 21 road homers were also the 3rd highest total in club history behind Larry Walker's 29 in 1997 and
Helton's 22 in 2001...now has 291 career home runs as a 3B (303 overall), the eighth most at that position in big league
history...recorded a career-best 81 extra-base hits...had 31 go-ahead RBI, tied for second in the NL behind Albert Pujols
(34)...made just 6 errors in 148 games for his league record .987 fielding mark...broke the previous NL mark of .983 held
by STL's Gary Gaetti in 1998...opened the year by going error free in his first 32 games of the season before a miscue on May 15 vs. Philadelphia...Vinny handled his first 91 chances of 2004 without an error, a span of 287.1 innings...collected
at least one RBI in a career-best 10 consecutive games from April 14-25 (14 total), establishing a new club record...broke
the previous mark of 9 straight games with an RBI set by Todd Helton, May 6-15, 2001...became the first big leaguer to
post a 10-game RBI streak since Manny Ramirez, Sept. 14-24, 2002 (also 10)...solo home run on April 16 at STL was
the 4,000th homer in Busch Stadium history...reached base safely in each of his first 23 games until going 0-for-5 on May
4...belted his 3rd career walkoff home run on May 17 vs. PHI, completing a 6-run rally in a 7-6 victory...became Mexico's
all-time hits leader (1620) with an 8th-inning single on July 7 at SF, passing Jorge Orta (1619)...on April 14 vs. ARI,
passed Orta (733) for the most runs scored by Mexican-born player...then passed Aurelio Rodriguez (287) for the most
doubles on July 10 at SD...named NL Player of the Week for July 19-25...hit .323 with 5 home rs and 9 RBI...homered in
4 consecutive games, July 21-24, matching career high (May 31-June 3, 1998)...equaled a club record by homering in
4 straight road games, joining Larry Walker as the only Rockies to ever go deep in 4 straight away from home...it was the
4th time Castilla has earned player of the week in a Rockies uniform, as he also did so May 8-14, 1995, June 10-16,
1996 and April 7-13, 1997...on Sept. 13 at ARI, Castilla reached 2 milestones with one swing of the bat, as he belted his
300th career home run and collected his 1,000th career RBI with a 2-run shot off Scott Service in the 7th inning...Castilla
became the first player to post 300th home run and 1,000th RBI in the same at-bat since Billy Williams did it for the Cubs
on May 12, 1971...the last player to even do it in the same game (but not same AB) was Darrell Evans for the Tigers on
June 15, 1985...became the 104th player in big league history and first Mexican to hit 300 homers...hit his 30th home run
on Sept. 5 and thus became the first player in franchise history to hit 30 long balls in 6 different seasons (1995-99, 2004).
2003
Vinny had turnaround year at the plate and once again provided solid defense at third base...Hit .314 over his last 65 games (77 x 245, 10 HR, 41 RBI)...Had two 2-HR games this year: May 17 at SD and May 20 at Cin; has 28 multi-homer games in career...Chicago series July 10-13: 11 x 15, .733, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 2 2B...Had a 7-game hitting streak (9 x 29, .310, 1 HR, 1 RBI) May 24-31, an 8-game streak (15 x 31, .484, 6 HR, 10 RBI) May 12-20 and a 7-game streak July 8-13 (17 x 28, .607, 3 HR, 14 RBI, 8 R)...His 5 RBI April 13 at Florida were his most since getting 6 on Sept. 5, 2001, at Cincinnati...Went 4 x 5 with 3 2B Sept. 6 vs. Pirates...Batted .339 (19 x 56) with RISP and 2-out...Hit 16 of 22 HR on the Road.
2002
- Led NL third basemen and set a Braves franchise record for the position with a .982 fielding percentage (75 PO, 256 Assists, 6 E, 337 TC, 139 G)...Clete Boyer had held the team record at .981 in 1968.
- Committed 1st error of season May 15 at San Francisco; he was the last NL regular third baseman to commit an error in 2002.
- His June 3 grand slam vs. NY was the 4th of his career; his previous one had come while with the Astros one year prior on June 3, 2001, vs. LA.
- Had three 8-game hitting streaks: July 12-19 (10 x 30, .333, 2 RBI, 1 R, 3 2B, 1 SB); May 4-13 (11 x 35, .314, 1 HR, 4 RBI) and May 24-31 (10 x 29 .345, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 7 R).
- His 4 hits in 6 AB at Minn. June 10 were a season high.
- His HR in a June 11 at Minn. was part of back-to-back-to-back HRs (A.Jones, Castilla, M.Franco).
- Homered in 2 of Braves last 4 games (Game 1 of DH Sept. 27 and Sept. 28 at NYM).
- Went a career-high 256 AB without a HR between 3rd AB June 11 at Minn. and 2nd AB Sept. 13 at Fla.
2001
Finished the season with 23 home runs as an Astro, just two shy of the franchise record for singleseason
homers by a third baseman (25), set by Doug Rader in 1970...Led the Astros with a .305 average (25 x 82) in
September, with three home runs and 14 RBI...As an Astro, hit .230 with 10 HR and 36 RBI in 222 at bats at Enron Field,
.309 with 13 HR and 46 RBI in 223 at bats on the road...Went 7 x 9 Sept. 4-5 in Cincinnati...Went 4x5 with three runs
scored on Sept. 4 and 3 x 5 with a homer and a career-high tying six RBI (fifth time, second this year) on Sept. 5...Drove
in all three runs, including two in the ninth inning on a two-out, two-run homer (Wright) in a 3-2 win over Milwaukee on
Aug. 31...Homered three times in four games from Aug. 10-13, driving in five runs...Ranked second in the NL to Jeff
Bagwell with 28 RBI in July...Hit four longballs over two games (July 27-28) to tie the Astros record...Three home runs
on July 28 at Pit (Game 1) tied his career high (also:6/5/99 for Col. vs. Mil.) and the Astros club record...Third multi-HR
game of the year (26th career)...Went 3x5 with two home runs and five RBI on July13 vs. San Diego...On June 3 vs. Los
Angeles, hit two home runs and had a career-high tying six RBI (fourth time)... Second homer was his third career grand
slam...Had seven consecutive hits May 31 at SD and June 1 vs. LA, one short of tying the club record..Signed by the
Astros on May 15 and started at third base that night at Wrigley Field...Went 3 x 5 with a homer, two doubles and three
runs...Moved to shortstop in the 11th inning, his first stint there since June 7, 1998...Hit .215 (20 x 93, 2 HR, 9 RBI) in
24 starts for the Devil Rays before being placed on waivers on May 11 for the purpose of his unconditional release.
2000
Appeared in just 85 games after playing in 98% of the Colorado
Rockies' games (778/792) from 1995-99...Endured 3 separate stints on
the DL in 2000, the first shelvings of his career: missed the first
7 games of the season with a strained left oblique muscle (went on
April 1 retroactive to March 25 and was reinstated April 11)...was
also DL'd June 14-July 2 and Aug 1-Sep 3 with lower back
inflammation...missed a total of 63 games to the DL...in addition,
he missed 5 games after he was hit on the right wrist by a pitch
from TOR John Frascatore on July 20...had just 88 AB after the
All-Star break (25 games)...Hit .221 with 6 HR and 42 RBI after
averaging 38 home runs, 112 RBI and a .302 batting average over the
previous 5 seasons...Opened the season with one HR in his first 15
games, then hit 4 in an 8-game stretch from April 28 to May 7...hit
just one more homer the rest of the season (May 27 vs. SEA off Brett
Tomko) covering 241 AB...Finished the season homerless in his last
166 AB (42 games) - the longest HR drought of his career - previous
was 109 AB from June 27, 1994 to May 8, 1995...Hit .395 (15/38)
against Cleveland and Baltimore and .198 (58/293) vs. everyone
else.. Had season-high 3 hits Sep 7 @ CLE and a season-high 3 RBI
May 30 vs. BAL...Average was not above .233 after May 12 and reached
a season-low .200 on May 25... Best season stretch was a
season-high 7-game hitting streak May 26-June 1 in which he hit
.357 (10/28) with 8 RBI...On June 9 vs. Florida he recorded his
first triple since July 3, 1999 vs. San Diego...Was acquired by the
Rays on Dec. 13, 1999 as part of the first 4-team trade in 14 years.
1999
Although his average slipped below .300 for the first time since 1993, topped 30 homers for the fifth straight year, and eclipsed 100 RBI for the fourth straight season...His 75 strikeouts were personal fewest since 1993...Helped the Colorado Rockies set National League records for most extra base hits and total bases in a season eclipsing records that had stood since 1930...Castilla, Dante Bichette, Larry Walker and Todd Helton combined to make the Rockies only the 4th team in major league history to feature four players with 30 home runs and 100 RBI...Was 8th in the National League with 615 at bats...On June 15 his 307 consecutive games played streak came to end when he got the day off...It was the first time he missed a game since June 25, 1997...It was then the longest active streak in the majors...It also snapped his major league leading 222 consecutive starts...Had 3 multi-homer games extending his club career record to 23...Batted .324 in April, 2nd best on the team, with club-high 10 extra base hits...Hit safely in 23 of 29 games in May but batted only .262... Fashioned a season-high 12-game hitting streak, May 21 - June 1 (14-for-47,.298).
1998
His 144 RBI were more than any third baseman in National League history, and second only to Cleveland's Al Rosen, who drove in one better in 1953...His 46 homers have been bettered by only two third basemen in major league history...Castilla's 46 homers were the third most in franchise annals, trailing Walker's 49 in 1997 and Galarraga's 47 in 1996...The only NL player to start each of his club's games in 1998...Among NL leaders, finished fourth in homers, third in RBI (behind only McGwire and Sosa), fourth in multi-hit games, third in hits, third in total bases, tied for seventh in slugging percentage and seventh in extra-base hits...His career-high hit total (206) remains the fourth highest in Colorado history, behind only Bichette (219, 1998), Burks (211, 1996) and Walker (208, 1997)...In the first game of the season, at Arizona March 31, he belted two homers to lead the Rockies' to a 9-2 win, the first of six multi-homer games for Vinny in 1998...Homered on Apr 16 vs. Los Angeles, the 130th homer of his career, tying him with Jorge Orta...Put together the first of two season-high 14-game hitting streaks, April 5-19, and in the final six games of the streak he knocked in 14 runs...On May 14 vs. Chicago, Vinny equaled his career high with five hits, including a double, homer and three RBI...Homered in four consecutive games May 31-June 3, going 7-for-15 with 10 RBI during the stretch...Earned an All-Star invitation and was a member of the NL team in the home run contest on Monday, then went 0-for-2 in the game at Coors Field Tuesday...Enjoyed a career best month in July, hitting .381 with 12 homers and 25 RBI in the Rockies' 25 games; the 12 homers tied the club record for a month...
1997
Amazingly in '97, he duplicated his .304 average, 40 homers and 113 RBI from 1996...
1996
Castilla's 40th homer in his last at bat of the year gave the Rockies just the second threesome (Andres Galarraga and Ellis Burks) in major-league history to hit at least 40 home runs. The first was the 1973 Atlanta Braves (Davey Johnson, Hank Aaron and Darrell Evans), The 1997 Rockies subsequently became the third and most recent team with three 40-homer guys (Larry Walker, Galarraga and Castilla)....Hit the Rockies' only two grand slams in '96, the only two of his career: Apr 6 at Montreal off Kirk Rueter and July 12 vs. San Diego off Willie Blair...The latter gave the Rockies the lead in an 11-run inning enroute to a 13-12 victory...On three occasions, homered in three consecutive games...Was the NL Player-of-the-Week, June 10-16, hitting .346 (9-for-26), with seven runs, four homers and eight RBI...Had four multiple-homer games during the year.
1995
After two seasons of platoon duty at shortstop and second base, he made his third position switch in as many years and made the All-Star team as a third baseman...Started the Midsummer Classic, picked by NL manager Felipe Alou to replace a sidelined Matt Williams...Originally a shortstop when signed by the Braves, Vinny went to the Arizona Instructional League during the 1994 players' strike to get work at third base, then earned an All-Star spot at that position in 1995 with the Rockies...Led the club with six multi-homer games, and was the first Rockie in history to homer twice in back-to-back games, turning the trick July 7-8 vs. Montreal...Was NL Player-of-the-Week from May 8-14, batting .609 (14-for-23) with four homers and 14 RBI; on May 12 he turned in a four-hit, two-homer, six-RBI game at Florida...In Game 1 of the first NLDS vs. Atlanta, his fourth-inning, two-run homer snapped a 1-1 tie, though the Braves came back to win. He hit another two-run homer at Atlanta in Game 3, again breaking a tie, and then drove in an insurance run in the 10th inning of the Rockies' only postseason win.
1994
Made nine appearances for the Rockies before his AAA option; then, June 4, he returned to the majors, where he has remained since...Started at least two games at each infield position...Made his first ever appearance at first base July 29 at San Francisco, the game after Andres Galarraga suffered a broken hand.
1993
In his first full big-league season, Vinny platooned at short with Freddie Benavides.
